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The funding has been awarded through the Dairy Modernization Grant Program, which Gov. Kathy Hochul outlined in her 2024 State of the State address. The program assists farms with equipment purchases, storage expansion and other infrastructure projects.

The seven recipients in Cayuga County are among 18 farms in central New York that were awarded more than $3.9 million. Allen Farms in Scipio will use the funding to install three direct load ports and a high-speed milk loadout pump with a metering system. The project will allow milk trucks to be filled faster on site.

Grants for Fessenden Dairy in Genoa and Lincoln Dairy in Fleming will increase milk storage and decrease load times for milk haulers. Heat recovery systems and modern plate coolers will be installed to decrease energy consumption.

McGarr Farms in Genoa will expand its milk storage capacity from 2,000 to 10,000 gallons and increase efficiency for milk cooling and handling to meet state requirements.

Patterson Farms in Aurelius will replace a 1,300-gallon milk silo with a 20,000-gallon silo, increasing the on-farm storage capacity from 14,300 to 33,000 gallons. Other equipment purchases include a new cooling and washing controller and a milk metering system.

Ridgecrest Dairy in Genoa will add a chiller and plate cooler project to boost milk storage and reduce energy costs. Scipio Springs Dairy in Scipio will make several upgrades, including the addition of a 20,000-gallon milk silo, a chiller and plate cooler. The improvements will increase milk hauling efficiency and real-time milk quality monitoring, according to the project description.

"New York's dairy industry is the backbone of our agricultural economy, supporting thousands of jobs across our rural communities," Hochul said in a statement. She added that the funding through the Dairy Modernization Grant Program will give "hardworking dairy farmers and cooperatives the tools they need to grow, innovate and lead in a changing market."

The program is administered by the Farm and Food Growth Fund. The first round of funding was included in the 2024-25 state budget.

A second round of the initiative is part of the 2025-26 state budget. According to the governor's office, the budget contains $10 million for the program's second round.

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